Frank I. Tarazi, MBBS, PhD, EMBA
Director, Laboratory in Pharmacoeconomics and Health Outcomes
- Associate Professor of Psychiatry
Biography
Frank I. Tarazi, MBBS, PhD, EMBA, is a preclinical and clinical expert in the diagnosis and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, and Huntington’s disease, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression, and ADHD. He has published over 140 articles and reviews in highly cited scientific and medical journals. He has also published over 12 book chapters, including a chapter in the textbook, “Goodman and Gilman’s The Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics,” and co-edited a book, “Neurological and Psychiatric Disorders: From Bench to Bedside.” Dr. Tarazi is the associate editor of Pharmacology and Therapeutics and CNS Spectrums and serves on the editorial board of several other journals.
Dr. Tarazi is a fellow of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology. He is also a member of the American Psychiatric Association, the American Academy of Neurology, the International College of Neuropsychopharmacology and the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology, as well as the World Economic Forum’s Global Council on Neurotechnologies and Brain Research.
Dr. Tarazi’s Laboratory in Pharmacoeconomics and Health Outcomes focuses on studying cost-benefit analysis, cost-effectiveness analysis, cost-utility analysis, and cost per quality analysis of different drugs and new therapeutic interventions including immunotherapies, stem cell therapies and gene therapies for different neurological and psychiatric disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s disease, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression, and ADHD as well as neuromuscular disorders such as Duchenne muscular dystrophy and spinal muscular atrophy.
The group analyzes the socioeconomic burden of different brain diseases and proposes treatment guidelines to help health care providers make more informed decisions and select the right therapies for the right patients to improve patients’ reported outcomes and daily functioning. It also offers recommendations for drug pricing to policymakers and national health care systems, to ensure fair access and sustainability of novel therapies to all patients.
Dr. Tarazi has extensive experience in the design and execution of clinical trials with novel therapies for different neurological and psychiatric disorders and has participated in the pre-clinical and clinical development of several antipsychotic and antidepressant drugs including aripiprazole (Abilify®), brexpiprazole (Rexulti®), iloperidone (Fanapt®), asenapine (Saphris®), vilazodone (Viibryd®), atomoxetine (Strattera®), cariprazine (Vraylar®), and many others.
He has also participated in clinical trials that led to the approval of lecanemab (Leqmbi®) and donanemab (Kisunla®) for Alzheimer’s disease. He has been awarded research funding from the NIH, NARSAD, the Stanley Foundation, and from many pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies.
Dr. Tarazi has received several national and international awards from leading institutes and societies worldwide including the A.E. Bennett Award from the Society of Biological Psychiatry, the Bristol-Myers Squibb Award from the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology, the Rafaelsen Fellowship Award from the International College of Neuropsychopharmacology, the Jordi Folch Pi Memorial Award from the American Society for Neurochemistry, the Alfred Pope Award from McLean Hospital, and the Dean’s Dissertation Award from Rutgers University.
- Ross J. Baldessarini, MD, McLean Hospital
- Xenia Gonda, MA, PharmD, PhD, Semmelweis University
- Jo Neill, PhD, University of Manchester
- Bruce H. Price, MD, McLean Hospital
- Marco Riva, PhD, University of Milan
- Eva-Maria Tsapakis, MD, PhD, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
Sharma SR, Gonda X, Tarazi FI. Autism spectrum disorder: Classification, diagnosis and therapy. Pharmacology and Therapeutics 2018; 190:91-104.
Gonda X, Dome P, Erdelyi-Hamza B, Krause S, Elek LP, Sharma SR, Tarazi FI. Invisible wounds: Suturing the gap between the neurobiology, conventional and emerging therapies for posttraumatic stress disorder. European Neuropsychopharmacology 2022;61:17-29.
Gonda X, Dome P, Neill JC, Tarazi FI. Novel antidepressant drugs: Beyond monoamine targets. CNS Spectrums 2023;28(1):6-15.
Books
Neurological and Psychiatric Disorders: From Bench to Bedside
by Frank I. Tarazi, PhD, MSc, and John A. Schetz, PhD, editors
(Humana Press, 2005)
Education & Training
- 1987 MBBS, St. Joseph’s University
- 1996 PhD in Neuropsychiatry, Rutgers University
- 2008 Executive MBA in Business Administration, Northeastern University
- 1996-1997 NIH Research Fellowship, McLean Hospital
